Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A workcell provides a mounting structure to attach robot peripherals, such as sensors, actuators, arms, computers, and power supplies. Usually, a technician integrates these peripherals to create a custom workcell solution to solve a specific task. This integration effort includes mechanically installing robot peripherals into the workcell, wiring these devices together, describing their configuration within an automation controller, and then calibrating a geometric location of these devices relative to each other and to the world.
This integration process can be time consuming and expensive. If it is desired to modify the workcell functionality, much of this integration effort is repeated. In addition, workcells often may not be able to be reconfigured since the workcells are usually customized for a specific task or requirement. A high cost of modification may also make it undesirable to swap out older or damaged devices. Further, workcells are mostly disconnected tools with limited support for remote operation and data exchange. As such, system management tasks are typically performed directly at the unit, which is a tedious and time consuming process. Furthermore, the data collected during operation of the workcells is a significant source of value that is currently untapped.